DC Ross Posted October 29, 2012 Report Share Posted October 29, 2012 For under $3600, this 24x36 machine is quite good. I've been using it for a few months. http://www.ebay.com/itm/24x36-600x900mm-CNC-Router-Cutter-Engraver-high-quality-free-ship-hot-sale-/130724877131?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e6fcf534b Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted October 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2012 So I have another new motor, all new couplings (not bunna-N), and all new motor mounts.... I have been told bunna-N will not fit my machine and that backlash could be an issue. I am not building my own... if anything I will send this one to a community college to get what it deserves. Then buy a big system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted May 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2013 The Colt Palm Router decided to blow up as it was cutting a very important customer guitar. Then in its death throws ate the top horn. The CNC didn't know the unit had stopped and kept trying to move... before I could get to it to stop the thing the Colt was smoking, the body was wounded, and the CNC had skipped 100 steps...I am not sure I like machines. I am livid at this point and maybe I need a break from all this... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted May 20, 2013 Report Share Posted May 20, 2013 Get in the new jeep and just go. Come back tomorrow. Or the next day. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sporky McGuffin Posted June 7, 2013 Report Share Posted June 7, 2013 I feel your pain - I bought a used K2 3295 from a friend about 2-3 years ago - it's running beautifully now, but I went through a lot of unhappy times. It blew an encoder and that took out the motor driver. Trying to fix that I killed most of the black box controller - support from K2 was utterly non-existent. In the end I scrapped the original controller (very badly made and downright dangerous in some respects) and made a new one from scratch - the upshot is that I now completely understand how that part of the machine works so if anything else does go wrong I can put it right much more easily. Building your own really isn't either a bad idea nor that huge an undertaking, but I do see the appeal of buying ready-made. There comes a point though where you need to cut your losses and buy or build the right tool for the job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted June 10, 2013 Report Share Posted June 10, 2013 The first thing many CNC owners do when using their machine for the first few times is to make a new CNC machine ;-) It doesn't help make new steppers and controllers appear I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted June 10, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2013 I think at this point I will cut my loses with this machine. I patched it back together enough to finish this years builds. I will order a new spindle control board at some point and put this one up for sale.I need a machine that can do aluminum so the plan is to replace this machine before next season.I might replace it with 2 machines. One really good wood machine and one small CNC mill for aluminum and brass work.I agree that building my own machine would be the way to go but I really don't want to spend time working on a CNC machine.I want to build guitars. And to do that the way I want I need a CNC machine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted June 10, 2013 Report Share Posted June 10, 2013 Fair call. The metalworking CNC will be messy as hell. Nothing worse than mixing wood debris with coolant and oil. Ergh!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted June 10, 2013 Report Share Posted June 10, 2013 Are you planning to start building your own bridges?.....anything else? SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted June 10, 2013 Report Share Posted June 10, 2013 He'll have us on his back if so ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Ross Posted June 10, 2013 Report Share Posted June 10, 2013 You can do Al (and other non-ferrous metals like brass) on most decent CNC routers, as long as you take it slow with shallow cuts. I've been using the JCut 6090 for just over a year, and it's been a good, relatively inexpensive (<$3k) machine that has a 24x36x6" work envelope. There's always one on eBay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/24x36-600x900mm-CNC-Router-Cutter-Engraver-Sale-Christmas-and-New-Year-/130832889821?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e763f77dd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sporky McGuffin Posted June 10, 2013 Report Share Posted June 10, 2013 I might replace it with 2 machines. One really good wood machine and one small CNC mill for aluminum and brass work. I agree that building my own machine would be the way to go but I really don't want to spend time working on a CNC machine. I understand that. I think two separate machines is the way to go. Best of luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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